Theater, Performance and Celebrity: An Archive of Extravagance

Celebrity is a drama of attraction, immediacy, and intimacy that plays out between an exceptional individual and an interested public. Historically, theater and live performance have played a central role in the formation of celebrity. Recently, however, theater's role has been displaced by changing tastes and a proliferation of new media that compete for our attention and set into motion new patterns of production, circulation, and consumption. This panel will delve into an “archive of extravagance" in order explore how theater and performance contribute to the development of modern celebrity and how celebrity revitalizes theater and performance.